When The Tidings Of A New
World Beyond The Seas Reached Europe, Spanish And Portuguese
Expeditions Vied With Each Other In Exploring Its Coasts And Sailing
Up Its Mighty Rivers.
In 1494 the Pope decided that these new lands, which were nearly
twice the size of Europe, should become the possession of the
monarchs of Spain and Portugal.
Thus by right of conquest and gift
South America with its seven and a half million miles of territory
and its millions of Indian inhabitants was divided between Spain and
Portugal. The eastern northern half, now called Brazil, became the
possession of the Portuguese crown and the rest of the continent went
to the crown of Spain. South America is 4,600 miles from north to
south, and its greatest breadth from east to west is 3,500 miles. It
is a country of plains and mountains and rivers. The Andean range of
mountains is 4,400 miles long. Twelve peaks tower three miles or more
above ocean level, and some reach into the sky for more than four
miles. Many of these are burning mountains; the volcano of Cotopaxi
is three miles higher than Vesuvius. Its rivers are among the longest
in the world. The Amazon, Orinoco and La Plata systems drain an area
of 3,686,400 square miles. Its plains are almost boundless and its
forests limitless. There are deserts where no rain ever falls, and
there are stretches of coast line where no day ever passes without
rain.
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